Medieval Matters: Week 2 – Oxford Medieval Studies

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable first week and that you are all now settled back into the rhythm of term. We have yet another week full of seminars, reading groups and events. Here is some wisdom for us all from the Old English Disticha catonis regarding appropriate seminar behaviour:

Ne beo þu to oferspræce, ac hlyst ælces monnes worda swiðe georne.
Don’t speak too much, but listen attentively to everyone’s words.

There’s plenty to listen to this week, with seminars on topics ranging from Procopius’ Buildings to Tudor Wales – may we all listen attentively and enjoy this wealth of offerings! Full details, as always, are listed below, and also on our blog. Please do check whether you need to book in advance for events.

EVENTS THIS WEEK:

Monday 24th January:

The Medieval Latin Manuscript Reading Group meets at 1-2pm on Teams. Sign up here for the mailing list to receive details of each week’s sessions: https://web.maillist.ox.ac.uk/ox/info/medieval-latin-ms-reading. Contact Matthew Holford, Andrew Dunning or Tuija Ainonen for further details.
The Medieval Archaeology Seminar meets at 3pm on Teams. This week’s speaker will be Ewoud Deschepper (U. of Ghent): ‘House and yard in Early Medieval northern Francia‘. For the Teams’ link click here.
The Medieval History Seminar meets at 5pm at The Wharton Room, All Souls College and online on Teams. This week’s speaker is David Addison (All Souls), ‘Ascetic elitism beyond the cloister: Valerius of Bierzo and “Galician” monasticism at the end of the seventh century’. Attendance at the Wharton Room is by advance booking only as the room has a strict Covid-19 capacity limit. Seats will be released 1 week before each seminar. Bookings can be made at https://medieval-history-seminar.reservio.com. The Teams session can be accessed by logging in to Teams with your .ox.ac.uk account and joining the group “Medieval History Research Seminar” (team code rmppucs). If you have any difficulties please email: medhistsem@history.ox.ac.uk
The Old Norse Reading Group meets at 5.30pm on Teams. Please email Olivia Smith (olivia.smith2@linacre.ox.ac.uk) to be added to the mailing list and Teams group.

Tuesday 25th January:

The Medieval English Research Seminar meets at 11.30pm in Lecture Theatre 2, Faculty of English. This week’s speaker will be Francis Leneghan (St Cross College), ‘‘Beowulf’ and the hunt’. For further information, contact daniel.wakelin@ell.ox.ac.uk.
The Late Medieval Europe Seminar meets at 2pm at Saint John’s College, seminar room 21 St Giles. This week’s speaker is Tim Wingard (York), ‘Unclean beasts: towards a queer ecology of the late middle ages’.
The Medieval Book Club meets at 3.30pm in Magdalen College, Old Law Library. This week’s topic is ‘Fear’. If you want to join us, or would like more information, please contact oxfordmedievalbookclub@gmail.com. Option to join virtually via Google Meet as well, please send your contact details.
The Medieval Church and Culture Seminar meets at 5pm in Warrington Room, Harris Manchester College. This week’s speaker is Benjamin Thompson (Somerville), ‘Open or Closed? Late Medieval Monasteries and their Visitations‘.

Wednesday 26th January:

The Medieval German Seminar meets at 11.15-12.45 at Oriel College, Harris Room, discussing the prologue to Reinbot of Durne’s Georg legend. If you are interested in being added to the teams channel and the mailing list for the seminar, email Henrike Lähnemann henrike.laehnemann@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk. For further information, follow MedGermOx on Twitter.
The Medieval Trade Reading Group meets at 1-2pm in the Mertze Tate room of the History Faculty and online on Teams. Anyone interested in any element of medieval trade and its study are very welcome to join, from any department. To be added to the mailing list and team please email Annabel Hancock at annabel.hancock@history.ox.ac.uk
The Late Antique and Byzantine Seminar meets at 5:30pm on Zoom. This week’s speaker is Elodie Turquois (Mainz): ‘Reworking the Buildings: The shorter recension as a later epitome.’ Register in advance for this on-line series: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkdeuspz8jG9IfBfrd75k6qrxLyWtG_PAu. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Thursday 27th January:

Middle High German Reading Group meets at 10am at Somerville College Productivity Room (Margery Fry). This week’s text is Das Osterspiel von Muri. If you have any questions or want to participate, please send an e-mail to melina.schmidt@lincoln.ox.ac.uk.
The Greek and Latin Reading Group meets at 4pm in St Edmund Hall. Room TBC: contact John Colley or Jenyth Evans to be added to the mailing list.
The Seminar in Medieval and Renaissance Music will take place on Zoom at 5pm. This week’s speaker is Lachlan Hughes (University of Oxford), ‘Laude and Lyric Poetry in Dante’s Florence‘. Discussants: Elena Abramov-Van Rijk (independent scholar, Jerusalem) and Blake Wilson (Dickinson College (PA)). If you are planning to attend a seminar this term, please register using this form. For each seminar, those who have registered will receive an email with the Zoom invitation and any further materials a couple of days before the seminar. If you have questions, please email (matthew.thomson@ucd.ie).
The Celtic Seminar will take place on Zoom at 5pm. This week’s speaker is David Parsons (CAWCS), ‘Mapping Tudor Wales: The ‘list of parishes’ in Peniarth MS 147‘. Please contact a.elias@wales.ac.uk for the link.

Friday 28th January:

Pre-Modern Conversations meets at 11am-12pm on Teams. For more information and to be added the the PMC Teams Channel, email lena.vosding AT mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.
The Seminar in the History of the Book will meet online at 2.15pm. You must be registered 24 hours before the seminar to receive a link to attend online. This week’s speaker is Renee Satterley, Librarian, The Hon. Society of Middle Temple, London: ‘On Robert Ashley (1565-1641)’s use of collections in Oxford in the 17^th century‘. Register here: https://forms.office.com/r/FSXrV1W98u
The Germanic Reading Group meets at 4pm on Zoom. Today’s meeting will be on Old Frisian, lead by Johanneke Sytsema (Oxford). For more information and to get the zoom links, please email Howard.Jones@sbs.ox.ac.uk.

OPPORTUNITIES

Call for Papers – Comitatus, A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Comitatus, published annually under the auspices of the UCLA CMRS Center for Early Global Studies, invites the submission of articles by graduate students and recent PhDs in any field of medieval and Renaissance studies. We particularly welcome articles that integrate or synthesize disciplines. February 28 2022 is the deadline for submissions to Volume 53 (2022). The editorial board will make its final selections by May 2022. Please send submissions as email attachments to Allison McCann, Managing Editor, Comitatus (allisonmccann@humnet.ucla.edu). Submissions guidelines can be found here.
Parker Library Stipendiary Early-Career Research Fellowship: A one-year postdoctoral research fellowship at the Parker Library, using their manuscript or print collections: https://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/about/opportunities/academic-vacancies.
Call for Papers: Bristol Centre for Medieval Studies postgraduate conference: The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Transitions‘ and we welcome abstracts of c300 words from postgraduate students and early career researchers working in any and all relevant disciplines relating to the medieval period. Please find the CfP attached and direct abstracts or queries to this email cms-conference-enquiries@bristol.ac.uk To stay updated, also follow us on Twitter @BristolCMS and @UoB_CMS_PGR. The deadline for abstracts is 28th February 2022, with the conference scheduled to take place and in person on and online over Zoom on 29th- 30th April 2021.

Finally, some more wisdom from the Old English Disticha catonis:

Ne læt þu no unlofod þæt þu swytele ongite þæt licwyrðe sie.
Do not leave unpraised that which you know well to be praiseworthy.

In other words, let’s thank our speakers and reading group organisers for their efforts in providing this wonderful programme of events for us all! Thanks to everyone who works to ensure that the Medievalist community at Oxford is always busy, varied, and entertaining. May you have a productive and enjoyable week.